Yoga Nidra For A Restless Mind

Sometimes when stress levels have been very high for a long time, that feeling of being wired and on edge becomes constant, and it can feel like there is no respite. This can be especially frustrating when you try to rest, and your body is still, but your mind is all over the place.

This guided yoga nidra is particularly aimed at helping to quiet the mind, in order for you to receive some much needed rest.

Transcript

This yoga nidra is an offering for when the mind is very restless and although you might have stillness in the body,

The mind has a grip or an edge to it that doesn't let you fully drop in and receive the stillness that your body is in.

There might also be times where there is high stress.

To come into this yoga nidra,

First make sure that you can be really comfortable in a position where you can lay down and be covered up and warm.

If it's helpful you might place something over your eyes.

Make a little space for your legs to rest out,

Your arms to roll open beside you.

The suggestion is to set this up so that it doesn't feel like you need to readjust or move,

That you can offer the body stillness.

As you are easing into that,

Just becoming a little bit more aware of the sensation of the surface that's underneath your body.

Is it soft and cushiony?

Are you in bed?

Or perhaps you might be lying on a surface that's a little bit firmer,

Like the floor or a carpet or a yoga mat.

Let's take a moment to see if you can feel the locations at the back of your body that are making direct contact with the surface beneath you.

And as you travel through these next four or five exhalations,

Just see what's possible in terms of letting your body weight sink a little bit deeper into those points of contact.

And very slowly,

Allow your awareness to move into the front of your body.

Perhaps you are underneath blankets or you can just feel the weight of your clothes resting on your skin.

Just becoming slightly more aware of sensations that are on the front of your body,

Sensations of surfaces that might be making contact with the front of your legs or your feet,

Your belly and chest,

Your arms.

And on these next three exhalations,

Just see if it's possible to let a little bit of softness move through your jaw.

Your lips might even float away from each other slightly,

Tongue falling heavy into the bottom of the mouth.

And this yoga nidra will be guided.

A soft amount of effort from you will be there to move with the body parts that I mentioned.

Although it's a common experience for people to not hear all of the words or have moments where they fall closer to sleep.

As we move around the body,

The idea is that you come along with the suggested route,

Feeling into the body parts as they are mentioned.

Some you will feel sensation in and some might feel a bit vague or hard to access.

All of those are great responses and very normal.

Before we begin scanning through the body,

Create for yourself a short but powerful intention that is stated in the present tense.

An example of this could be,

I am rested or I receive deep rest or I receive energy.

Something that feels relevant with why you have chosen to partake in this nidra today.

And as that intention comes to you and finds clarity,

Just internally to yourself,

State that intention three times.

Allow that intention to rest with you as we begin by guiding the attention up to the top of the head.

Just noticing the top of your head.

You don't have to try hard to feel,

Let your awareness rest here.

And then begin to shift that awareness around to the back of your head.

Down along the back of your neck.

Scanning into that place just at the top of both shoulder blades.

Scanning into your right shoulder blade,

Heavy bone,

The back of your right shoulder.

Slowly begin scanning down the back of your right upper arm,

Toward the elbow.

And then scanning from your right elbow along the back of the forearm.

Toward the back of your right wrist.

The back of the right hand.

And scan down along the back of all of the fingers of your right hand out to your fingertips.

Take a couple of soft breaths here at the tips of all of your right fingers.

And now reverse that scan into the backs of your right fingers,

Back of the right hand,

Right forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Right shoulder blade.

The space between both of your shoulder blades.

And scanning into your left shoulder blade,

The back of your left shoulder.

And slowly scanning from the back of your left shoulder,

Down the back of your upper arm,

Toward the left elbow.

Scanning from the left elbow down toward the wrist,

Back of the left hand.

The backs of all of your left fingers.

And out to the tips of all of your left fingers.

Take a couple of soft breaths here at your left fingertips.

The back of your left fingers,

Back of the left hand,

Left forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Left shoulder blade.

The space in between both of your shoulder blades.

And then scanning down your back ribs,

Your lower back,

The back of your pelvis,

Heavy resting.

Scanning down the back of your right hamstring.

The back of your right knee.

Scanning down the back of your right calf from your knee down toward the back of your ankle.

Your right heel bone.

The sole of your right foot.

The underneath of all of your right toes.

The tips of all of your right toes.

Rolling your awareness up and onto the tops of all of your right toes.

The top of your right foot.

Your whole right ankle.

Your whole right foot.

Scanning of the front of your right shin.

Your right knee.

Scanning up along the front of your right thigh toward your right hip crease.

Your whole right leg.

Whole right leg.

Whole right leg.

Scanning over and down the back of your left hamstring.

The back of your left knee.

Scanning down the back of your left calf toward your left ankle.

Your left heel.

The sole of your left foot.

The underneath of all of your left toes.

The tips of all of your left toes.

Rolling your awareness up and onto the tops of all of your left toes.

The top of your left foot.

Your whole left ankle.

Your whole left foot.

Scanning from your left ankle up the front of your left shin.

Your left knee.

Scanning up the front of your left thigh toward your left hip crease.

Your whole left leg.

Whole left leg.

Whole left leg.

Whole left and right legs.

Drawing your awareness to your lower belly.

Beginning to scan up your lower belly.

Drawing toward your navel.

Crossing the navel and continuing to scan your upper abdomen.

Your front ribs.

The centre of your chest.

Your whole chest.

Both of your collarbones.

Scanning over to the front of your right shoulder.

Your right armpit.

Scanning down the inner upper arm on the right side.

From the armpit to the elbow crease.

Scanning from the elbow crease down the right inner forearm.

Right inner wrist.

Right palm.

Right side thumb.

Right finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Whole right hand.

Whole right arm.

Whole right arm.

Whole right arm.

Your right collarbone.

The space in between your collarbones.

Your left collarbone.

The front of your left shoulder.

Left armpit.

Scanning down from your left armpit along your inner upper arm toward the left elbow crease.

From the elbow crease scanning down your inner left forearm toward your left wrist crease.

The palm of your left hand.

Your left thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Whole left hand.

Whole left arm.

Whole left arm.

Whole left arm.

Whole left and right arms together.

Whole left and right arms together.

The space between your collarbones.

Scanning up along the front of your neck.

Your chin.

Scanning up and over your bottom lip.

Top lip.

The tip of your nose.

The bridge of your nose.

Both of your cheeks.

Outward to both temples.

Circling around both of your ears.

Deep down into your inner ears.

Both of your temples.

Both bottom eyelids.

Both eyes.

And back into the eye sockets.

Both upper eyelids.

Eyebrows.

The space in between your eyebrows.

Scanning up your forehead.

Coming to return at the top of your head.

Whole front body.

Whole front body.

Whole back body.

Whole back body.

Streets.

All back body.

Whole back body.

Whole back Your entire body resting.

Your entire body heavy.

Your entire body receiving.

Your entire body receiving.

Your entire body receiving.

If you are ready for sleep.

This could be where you drift off and take deep sleep.

Or if you are ready to rise.

Take plenty of time to ease out of your deep state and re-enter your day.

The Yoga Nidra is complete.

Reviews

Very relaxing and helped my body and mind soften. I drifted off into a little nap, which was just what I needed and wanted. Thanks! 😊

Very nice Yoga Nidra practice. No music, no loud bells. Perfect for deep relaxation.

Loved the pace, the tone of voice. A really good yoga nidra

Thank you for this very soothing practice, guided with a calming voice. 🙏

Thank you 🙏🏼

I love this! It’s perfect for any conditions. No music. No wake up. Engaging and different body scanning helped keep my mind from wandering much. But initial validation of how normal that mind wandering is took all the critical energy out of it. Very content now. 3/9/23

Restless mind no more. Thank you. Incredible Nidra.

This was my first time of listening to this and it worked. I had woken up at around 1am and my mind was racing, so thanks for getting me back to sleep.

I used this meditation to get back to sleep in the early hours of the morning. It must have worked because I definitely did not hear all of it. Beautiful tone and pace. Thank you.